Migliaccio: Hearty Southern Italian Savory Fruited Corn Bread

Signore Google suggests there are many recipes for this little-known Southern Italian savory corn flour cake called Migliaccio. But here is my mother’s recipe and method of making this wintertime treat; it’s simpler than most out there that seem to revolve around ricotta cheese, orange blossom water and eggs. Let’s call this a basic, pared-down migliaccio.

It’s usually made in February for the Carnivale, using timely, local food. When the grapes of Autumn have gone shrivelly (but not yet dried), and the wine makers have produced their vin cotto (literally, cooked wine), a syrup made from reduced must (i.e. un-fermented grape juice, boiled down), it’s migliaccio time. But I suppose, fig, plum or cherry syrup will also do, and I suppose any fruit or even maple syrup could work well, but you’d want to up the acidity if using a sweeter syrup, with lemon juice perhaps. There is no leavening in this cake/bread so it’s quite dense and filling. It’s quite unusual to have onions in what appears to be a cake, bu think of it as corn bread with some sweetness in it. It may take some getting used to, and while it resembles its close relatives: panettone, fruit cake, polenta and cornbread, nothing tastes (or even looks) quite like the caramel-coloured, ridgy migliaccio.